Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comics Discussion Thread!

[MaidOfKandar]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

Yeah at this point, it looks like Space Goat just stopped caring about making any of their content Evil Dead at all. Sad.

I'm wondering if any of it has to do with the budgetary stuff we were talking about earlier.

For me, writing-wise, it never got better than Ash and the AOD/Ash Gets Hitched.  Good gore plus good writing plus character development?  Sign me up forever.  Dynamite screwed up majorly by taking the reins away from Steve Niles.  The ultimate Evil Dead book for me would probably be Steve Niles + Nick Bradshaw drawing.  Bradshaw probably hewed the closest to what I'd consider properly zany Raimi style splattergore.

You took the words right out of my mouth, there was just something about nick bradshaw art style that really caught my eye when i first read Ashes 2 Ashes, it was just comfortable to look at and it fit well with evil dead. Any other art style they went with for the comic just didn't feel right to me and just couldn't hold my attention like bradshaw's did, his style just fit well with the universe, the amount of detail he brought to each panel like throwing callbacks to the original films or referencing another movie (EX: in ashes 2 ashes when ash is entering the cave for the first time there is skeleton that resembles Indiana Jones, hat and everything) was just awesome to find and look at, you could honestly tell he put a 110% into his work in each issue he did, not dissing the other artists that have worked on this comic series but bradshaw style just fits it like a glove. 

*End Biased Rambling*

I think the guy who illustrated the Ash and the AOD arc might have a second place showing for at least getting anatomy right.  We've had some unfortunate art for this series.

 

[MaidOfKandar]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

New alt cover for Furious Road #4 by Tricon Patterson

 

[MaidOfKandar]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

Two Walker Con exclusive covers for Fury Road #5 - first by Tony Moore, the second by Ben Templesmith.  Also Art for the sixth issue by Gabriel Hardman!

 

[Kain]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

Looks like they're doing another AOD/Xena cross-over....

 

 

 

http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/army-darkness-xena-warrior-princess-clash-forever-day

 

[MaidOfKandar]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

I was just coming here to post that!

...I have no idea how I feel about this. The first was great, the second featured the immortal Solan Williams gaffe.

"Army of Darkness / Xena, Warrior Princess: Forever… and a Day" #1 kicks off with Xena discovering the world's first jilted lover from the Garden of Eden. Xena will be forced to call on funny man and womanizer Ashley Williams to battle an undead army in a story that will include time travel, romance, and of course, zombies."

....Everyone say it with me: DEADITES ARE NOT ZOMBIES.

 

[Kain]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

Anyone know if comic book publishers are only allowed to make cross-overs with the Army of Darkness and Evil Dead 2 licenses? I wish they would do more actual continuations of the series.

 

[Nick el Ass]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

So with the Ash/Xena crossovers has Ash come into contact with Autolycus?!? That would be interesting, but having said that I'm just not a fan of such comics like the ones I have seen posted online like Ash meets Hitler and whatnot because I feel like that kind of stuff has been done to death in comics. A simple straightforward continuation would be great to see.

 

[DyD]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

Anyone know if comic book publishers are only allowed to make cross-overs with the Army of Darkness and Evil Dead 2 licenses? I wish they would do more actual continuations of the series.

That would certainly explain it, but since Dynamite has done straight continuations before, I don't think that's the case. I think it's just the direction they decided to go with the property. And that's incredibly disappointing. Both Dynamite and Space Goat seem to have already given up on telling pure Evil Dead stories and resorted to just teaming up Ash with other characters that have absolutely nothing to do with the Evil Dead mythology. We have two comic companies doing Evil Dead comics, but neither of them is actually doing anything with the mythology or moving the story forward. That's just sad. It's always either a crossover with an unrelated character or something stupid like "Ash is president!", "Ash in space!", "Ash inside the computer!", etc. Not to mention that the art department is leaving as much to be desired as the writing department for quite a while now.

 

[MaidOfKandar]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

Anyone know if comic book publishers are only allowed to make cross-overs with the Army of Darkness and Evil Dead 2 licenses? I wish they would do more actual continuations of the series.

Like DYD said!  The 'regular' AOD line is a continuation of the movie. as is the Space Goat main line. 

The trouble is that Dynamite isn't willing to let a series grow an audience or finish developing.    The original continuity that started with Ashes 2 Ashes lasted for something like six years, then they tried to reboot it into a superhero comic (League of Light).  When that failed they tried another reboot (Hail to the Queen).  Then IT died and they tried Ash and the AOD.  Due to sales (tragically, IMO) falling off, they tried to side-boot it (Ash in Space).  Sales fell off even more, so they went with this post-apocalypse werewolf/mummy stuff.  I'm willing to guess that they're going to try yet another reboot next year in the hope of making money off the property.   They were far better off with Steve Niles and I think they just should've let him grow the brand slowly.  They cut off their noses to spite their faces with Cullen Bunn and have been casting around for something for Ash to do for ages.

So with the Ash/Xena crossovers has Ash come into contact with Autolycus?!? That would be interesting, but having said that I'm just not a fan of such comics like the ones I have seen posted online like Ash meets Hitler and whatnot because I feel like that kind of stuff has been done to death in comics. A simple straightforward continuation would be great to see.

He has!  In the first Xena/AOD crossover he and Ash switched placed, in the second they end up getting kidnapped together.   Also Gabrielle and Ash have a son together, because reasons.

If you want a straightforward continuation, Ash and the Army of Darkness does that beautifully, as does Ashes 2 Ashes.  The Space Goat line's had a couple of bobbles but I really like their main continuity, which actually fits snugly within the linear continuity.  

Anyone know if comic book publishers are only allowed to make cross-overs with the Army of Darkness and Evil Dead 2 licenses? I wish they would do more actual continuations of the series.

That would certainly explain it, but since Dynamite has done straight continuations before, I don't think that's the case. I think it's just the direction they decided to go with the property. And that's incredibly disappointing. Both Dynamite and Space Goat seem to have already given up on telling pure Evil Dead stories and resorted to just teaming up Ash with other characters that have absolutely nothing to do with the Evil Dead mythology. We have two comic companies doing Evil Dead comics, but neither of them is actually doing anything with the mythology or moving the story forward. That's just sad. It's always either a crossover with an unrelated character or something stupid like "Ash is president!", "Ash in space!", "Ash inside the computer!", etc. Not to mention that the art department is leaving as much to be desired as the writing department for quite a while now.

DyD, I completely recommend the main (non-crossover) Evil Dead 2 line (Beyond Dead By Dawn/Cradle of the Damned/Dark Ones Rising).  It's a linear continuation and of the two lines, it at least tries to extend the mythology even though it does occasionally ridiculous things with it

Spoiler

Like having Ash and Annie chunk up Deadites in a cat food factory overnight and have them use it as bait to attract more Deadites, for instance.

Dynamite keeps lucking into good things and then shooting themselves in the foot.  IMO, they're basically going with anything that will stick at this point because they keep panicking and rebooting the series when sales slow down.  

It never, ever got better than Ash and the AOD - I am sticking to that comment.

 

[DyD]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

DyD, I completely recommend the main (non-crossover) Evil Dead 2 line (Beyond Dead By Dawn/Cradle of the Damned/Dark Ones Rising).  It's a linear continuation and of the two lines, it at least tries to extend the mythology even though it does occasionally ridiculous things with it

Spoiler

Like having Ash and Annie chunk up Deadites in a cat food factory overnight and have them use it as bait to attract more Deadites, for instance.

Dynamite keeps lucking into good things and then shooting themselves in the foot.  IMO, they're basically going with anything that will stick at this point because they keep panicking and rebooting the series when sales slow down.  

It never, ever got better than Ash and the AOD - I am sticking to that comment.

I'll definitely check it out, but doesn't the Space Goat stuff tie the Evil Dead mythology and the Cthulhu mythos together, though? That's a crossover that actually makes sense for the series, as Evil Dead was always very Lovecraft inspired - with the old ones and the necronomicon and all - but still, I always figured they were separate mythologies.

I agree that's probably the case about Dynamite. Instead of relying on cheap gimmicks they should really start caring a bit more about storytelling and offering consistent artwork. That's what made Nick Bradshaw's initial run successful. I started reading all of their stuff chronologically, but got fed up and gave up shortly before Ash and the AoD. The writing and artwork was really starting to get on my nerves. I think I'm gonna jump right into Ash and the AoD and skip everything else I still haven't read. It doesn't seem like I'll be missing much.

 

[MaidOfKandar]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

DyD, I completely recommend the main (non-crossover) Evil Dead 2 line (Beyond Dead By Dawn/Cradle of the Damned/Dark Ones Rising).  It's a linear continuation and of the two lines, it at least tries to extend the mythology even though it does occasionally ridiculous things with it

Spoiler

Like having Ash and Annie chunk up Deadites in a cat food factory overnight and have them use it as bait to attract more Deadites, for instance.

Dynamite keeps lucking into good things and then shooting themselves in the foot.  IMO, they're basically going with anything that will stick at this point because they keep panicking and rebooting the series when sales slow down.  

It never, ever got better than Ash and the AOD - I am sticking to that comment.

I'll definitely check it out, but doesn't the Space Goat stuff tie the Evil Dead mythology and the Cthulhu mythos together, though? That's a crossover that actually makes sense for the series, as Evil Dead was always very Lovecraft inspired - with the old ones and the necronomicon and all - but still, I always figured they were separate mythologies.

I agree that's probably the case about Dynamite. Instead of relying on cheap gimmicks they should really start caring a bit more about storytelling and offering consistent artwork. That's what made Nick Bradshaw's initial run successful. I started reading all of their stuff chronologically, but got fed up and gave up shortly before Ash and the AoD. The writing and artwork was really starting to get on my nerves. I think I'm gonna jump right into Ash and the AoD and skip everything else I still haven't read. It doesn't seem like I'll be missing much.

Nope, the Cthulhu mythos doesn't end up connected to the canon in this version

Spoiler

We do see what hell in the universe looks like, and also see what Kandarian limbo is like, tho.

I can't vouch for the Tales of the Ex Mortis version of continuity, though, because I haven't read it!

Dynamite has honestly had the worst luck when it comes to matching up good to decent writers with good to decent artists. They got the formula right by the middle of Ash and the AOD but that's one of the only times I can remember everything coming together well.   And at least the writing was funny on the early part of Bradshaw's run; everything went south right in the middle of Ash vs Re-Animator.

And yep, if you gave up somewhere around Hail to the Queen then you're not missing much; I'd recommend maybe two parts of that arc, the whole thing dissolved into a muddle before it ended.

 

[DyD]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

@ MaidOfKandar

Oh, good to know. I'll look for the main Space Goat line then. I only saw the covers to it and I actually like the artwork style. Is it the same on the inside pages? I'll also read Ash and the AoD and skip the rest of the Dynamite arcs. I guess that should pretty much cover the good stuff.

 

[MaidOfKandar]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

@ MaidOfKandar

Oh, good to know. I'll look for the main Space Goat line then. I only saw the covers to it and I actually like the artwork style. Is it the same on the inside pages? I'll also read Ash and the AoD and skip the rest of the Dynamite arcs. I guess that should pretty much cover the good stuff.

The interior's pretty consistent - here's some preview pages that catch the gist of what it looks like inside:

I also recommend Ash Gets Hitched!  Ash in Space starts right afterwards and everything goes to hell right afterwards tho.

 

[DyD]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

@ MaidOfKandar

Oh, good to know. I'll look for the main Space Goat line then. I only saw the covers to it and I actually like the artwork style. Is it the same on the inside pages? I'll also read Ash and the AoD and skip the rest of the Dynamite arcs. I guess that should pretty much cover the good stuff.

The interior's pretty consistent - here's some preview pages that catch the gist of what it looks like inside:

I also recommend Ash Gets Hitched!  Ash in Space starts right afterwards and everything goes to hell right afterwards tho.

I can dig that art style. Much better than the usual Dynamite stuff. I'll look into it. Thanks a bunch!
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[MaidOfKandar]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

You're welcome!

 

[MaidOfKandar]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

Cover Art for Issue #2 of Xena/AOD's Forever...And a Day crossover:

 

[MaidOfKandar]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

Elise caught this; it's on Source Point Press (A comic book company's) Facebook page:

Could they be working with the Evil Dead 2 license as well?

 

[MaidOfKandar]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

Author's commentary on the Army of Darkness Election Special.

And some alt covers:

 

[MaidOfKandar]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

Space Goat's planning a one-shot Christmas issue for December release:

(W) Georgia Ball (A/CA) Vincenzo Riccardi

Ho-ho-horror! Have a groovy Evil Dead holiday season with this brand new one-shot story that’s guaranteed to put the undead into your holiday dread! This one-shot special “Peace On Earth” story pits Annie and Ash against a Christmas horde of Deadites at Santa’s Snowy Garden, a rundown theme park. Pretty soon, it’s Annie, Ash, the theme park staff, and time-traveling demon hunters against the forces of beloved but possessed holiday icons. The gang must use their knowledge of Elves, St. Nick, Misfit Toys, Snowmen, Angels, 10 Lords-A-Leaping, and annoying holiday songs to wish themselves a Merry Christmas of survival. Writer Georgia Ball (Frozen, Evil Dead 2: Revenge of Jack the Ripper) brings in the true holiday fear with art by the captivating Vincenzo Riccardi (Aliens vs. Zombies).
In Shops: Dec 21, 2016

[size=medium]Once more into the breach as Ash is summoned back in time to help Xena.    Only this time, he arrives at a point when she was Pirate Xena—scourge of all seven seas! He convinces her to take him on as first mate while they investigate a mysterious island named Eden! But all this time he’s spending with her is making Ash wonder if they might have a future together…you know, after they get done saving the world?[/size]

 

[Kain]

RE: Army of Darkness/Evil Dead Comic Discussion Thread!

Space Goat is doing an event this month called Evil Dead Days to celebrate the success of their Evil Dead 2 board game kickstarter and debut of new Evil Dead 2 comics:

http://www.deadites.net/space-goat-unleashes-evil-dead-days/